By now hopefully you’ve heard of Sydney MC, B Wise. For an upcoming rapper who had no EPs to his name prior to his recently released debut Semi Pro, he sure developed a large following and lived up to the outstanding hype. In order to get that EP out, Wise took a break from touring and doing live shows, signed to Elefant Traks and got straight to work recording.
“It’s been great to finally find a home that I can put out my music and be with a group of people who also understand the vision,” Wise said. “Everyone has been quite hospitable and so I’m really enjoying the short amount of time that I’ve been there.”
To some, the fact Wise hadn’t put out an EP or album yet was a confusing idea. Fans had been seeing Wise’s name popping up on different bills for at least a year. He rocked stages at Listen Out Sydney as the Triple J Unearthed Winner, The Plot, Newtown Festival, BigSound, as well as warming up the crowd for Tuka (Thundamentals), Yelawolf, Vince Staples and Freddie Gibbs.
“In 2015 I pretty much completed a full album but it just wasn’t cohesive enough or the right time for me to put out an album, so that’s why we kinda just put out songs on their own just to keep the momentum and sort of also introduce myself and get people’s attention and that also included going on the road. Then when I thought I had a good enough platform then I would put out an EP. I’ve got to give credit to my manager Alexander Franco and my booking agent Niche Productions. They did what they can to get me out on the road as much as possible while I was still working on music. When those opportunities came, I took full advantage of them and tried to spread my reputation as a performer and build fans and come back and then put out some music.”
With Semi Pro already smashing it, and a full album is ‘pretty much complete’, fans who have heard Semi Pro will undoubtedly be chomping at the bit for more, but what can we expect?
“Nah the old things are going to stay old things,” B Wise says. “I mean we are working right now on new music and I’m just going to keep it ahead. You can anticipate an album so that’s what I’m working on now and a bunch of stuff on the sides. I just wanna keep working on new music. I just want to keep creating new and fresh material because I’m still learning a lot as well in the recording process, so I still want to keep going and building.”
Semi Pro was finally released last week to exceptional praise. B Wise has proved one of the driving forces of the new and diverse wave of Australian MCs. The EP reads like a big introduction into who B Wise is, and what he has gone through to get to this point in his life.
“The track selection was totally deliberate. I did it that way because of the first song No Questions. It’s a quick recap or a crash course basically into who I am and what got me to this point and what I’ve been through up to this point. No Questions is overall about having no regrets because I’ve been doing music a while now. I’ve been through a lot, you know personally and also in music. It’s a song I needed to get off my chest and I have no regrets about anything and what I’ve done to this point has got me here. Then I move on through, and we go to Smile, which is a song about being optimistic and optimism. And then Risk It is a bit more of a fun song, which is the current single. And then you got Drugs & Drama, which is my favourite song man. And we end with Roll Call, which is where I hope that they pass the baton because I have an intention to be here for a while.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRgj09YNOl8
B Wise’s favourite song Drugs & Drama, is also probably one of the best songs on Semi Pro. Lyrically it delves into the pressure of having to be thought of as cool and how it’s more of an obstacle than a path.
“Being introduced to a new environment, doing music, there’s a lot going on. What you would see as a fan of music, you know in the video clips and the lifestyle and you think, ‘oh it’s so cool and everything.’ But then you know if you’re in it you can kinda get overwhelmed and sucked up in it. And you need people who are grounded to remind you there is a reason you’re here, there is this reason to do music, it’s not to get sucked up in the lifestyle, which is the pros and cons of being a musician, so that came from a real place.”
“I know a lot of musicians who relate to it as well and when they hear it and they say ‘yeah, I get what your saying.’ So that song is just a plea and a call out to say what I see at the moment.”
For someone like B Wise it must have been hard work to stay grounded with so many fans and industry peers building hype behind the young MC.
“I don’t let it get to me. Those comments and praise, it’s humbling to hear that, but I still feel that I have a lot to do. I think if I was in such a good position you would be seeing my name a lot more on bills and festivals and that, so I know I have a lot more to do. I try not to go on the net too much as well so I’m not checking every single comment, not because I want to ignore that, it’s because I don’t want to gas myself up too much. I want to feel like I still have a lot to do you know.”
“My team, and particularly my manager, helped me to remain quite humble and my head on the task as well. Because I’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot to prove man. But to know that there is something bubbling, that’s amazing. I know personally where I am at right now, so I don’t let it get to me.”
https://soundcloud.com/ugottabwise/riskit
B Wise has also stated that one of his biggest influences is Tupac. Apart from Pac’s rebellious side, he was grounded and he was focused and above all he wanted to make a change and there is a lot of that to be found in B Wise.
“He’s one of my biggest influences in life bro, full stop. I grew up to him. A lot of young coloured males or ethnic males or even a lot of Anglo-Saxon people can relate to him so much as well. But particularly young African or black males tend to look at him as a second dad figure or something because he just represents so much and says so much that we go through. When I was young listening to him was just like thinking preach on type. And then you know a man like that got cut down in his prime, he didn’t get to finish what he was doing and what he was trying to do. I take some of the good things from him in the scene of just trying to speak your heart and keep it authentic as possible.”
With Semi Pro out, B Wise is ready to start touring and playing live again. Next month he will hit the road with fellow Sydney duo Horrorshow.”
“Looking forward to that. That’s going to take the next month or so. Then November I’m going to come back and get pretty busy again with recording. Then December, I want to do my own headline show in Sydney to close out the year. Short time until the end of the year.”
It should be an exciting tour, as Horrorshow will be fresh out on the road again after also having taken some time off touring.
“We are really looking forward to it, we haven’t been out on the road for a while now, so we are keen to get back into it,” Adit from Horrowshow said.
“Urthboy sent us an advance copy of the Semi Pro EP and we listened to it and we really loved it. I mean we were feeling tracks that Wise has dropped before as well,” Adit continued, “and with the EP coming out and us being label fam, it just sort of made sense [to bring B Wise on the tour].”
For those lucky enough to have tickets to their almost sold out tour, you might even get to experience some new collab music from B Wise and Horrorshow.
“We will be doing some music together on the tour. It would be a waste not to take advantage of that.”
Check out Semi Pro here.
Image: Supplied
Australia’s hip-hop scene is growing and growing each week, and among the new wave of dope MCs stands Sydney’s B Wise. B Wise has been gaining attention and hype after he won Triple J’s Unearthed Listen Out spot in 2015. Now signed to Elefant Traks, nothing is going to stop B Wise from quickly becoming one of Australia’s best (and best loved) MCs.
I first heard B Wise in March this year when he opened for Freddie Gibbs. I remember arriving late and not actually knowing who it was up on stage – I’m not sure others in the crowd knew either. His style and attitude were vastly different from Gibbs’, but that didn’t matter, the crowd was really feeling it. “We be on that, real, real, real shit,” the crowd chanted as B Wise performed Lately.
B Wise’s debut EP, Semi Pro was produced by Dopamine, and reads like a story of the rapper’s life. No Questions is a look at where he came from, while Smile is about keeping a positive head. Risk It All is more of a party track about putting it all on the line, while Drugs & Drama is a song about the temptation to party and not focus on music. Roll Call is about making it to this point: his stellar debut EP and a national tour with Horrorshow.
The opening track and first single, No Questions, is an introspective look into B Wise’s upbringing. In the first half of the track, he directs his lyrics towards his parents, rapping over a slow piano. As his life starts to get more intense, the beat follows. He switches from discussing his upbringing to music, thanking those that brought him this far, and recognising the love that’s out there for him: “Coming from the underground, now you goin’ see me around, know that your boy goin’ be holding it down, these critics and blogs they in love with the sound.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRgj09YNOl8
And he’s right – No Questions is one of the freshest tracks on the EP, and of this year. I fricken love the production and the diversity that B Wise shows as a rapper right off the bat. His lyrics are clever enough to go over that piano, and ruthless enough to be spat at high velocities without pause.
In the next track, Smile, B Wise delves into the pressures and stresses of being an emerging artist: “Why the hell I feel so down, when everyone around me say we gone be on next/ because your phone bill is still overdue, and your landlord is still chasing you/ with more money going out than coming in, why your chasing a dream, what would you do?” But the song isn’t a down-on-my-luck type jam, it’s a track about smiling through the bullshit and coming out a better man.
Drugs & Drama is probably my favourite on Semi Pro. B Wise looks at the temptations and obstacles that present themselves to an artist on the way up. “Drugs, women, and drama, it’s all apart of the come up/ I just wanna make music, why we so far from it?” This is not a track you normally hear in the hip-hop genre, where most artists tend to brag about their drug use and womanising. “Glorifying money, women and the weed, it’s all a young ***** really need, and that was the saying, engraved on my brain, subconsciously carry that attitude to this day.” It’s a refreshing outlook from someone in the newest generation of rappers, to see them advocating for the genre to move on from its misogynistic, drug glorifying ways. It’s amazing to see young MCs just being themselves and not being afraid to call out the whole genre for dictating ‘how to be cool’.
“What you would see as a fan of music in the video clips and the lifestyle, you think, ‘oh it’s so cool’ and everything. But then you know if you’re in it you can kinda get overwhelmed and sucked up in it,” B Wise said to me in a recent interview. “You need people who are grounded to remind you that there is reason you do music.”
The last track on Semi Pro is the bright, layered Roll Call. B Wise holds nothing back lyrically, showing a level of dexterity and maturity in his rhymes of a rapper with years of experience under his belt. B Wise hits the bars so hard that when he proclaims, “I can’t wait to get on, someone pass me the baton,” you almost feel like putting a wanted ad in the classifieds (wanted: 3rd leg rapper to pass the baton to B Wise The Anchor). He sums up by rapping: “This is just the beginning of where we going.”
“I hope that they pass the baton because I have an intention to be here for a while,” B Wise said.
The final track closes the EP with thank yous and shout outs to those that supported him, and for the people listening to Semi Pro. This is the beginning of something major, and you’d B Wise to remember the name and peep the EP, Semi Pro. Grab a copy here.
B Wise will be supporting Horrorshow on their If You Know What I Mean Tour which kicks off October 12 in Canberra. Tickets are selling rapidly, grab them here.
Read our interview with B Wise.
Image: Supplied
A month ago Paul Reid aka Drapht dropped Seven Mirrors. It is his fifth studio album, and his first in five years. Despite his last album, The Life of Riley debuting at no. 1 on the ARIA chart and becoming his most successful to date, something was missing. The love for making music was gone, it had shifted from creative outlet to day job.
“When [music] turned into my livelihood, I unknowingly lost a lot of love for the writing process and I wasn’t seeing the same rewards that I was seeing in the past,” Reid says over the phone.
So, Drapht decided to hang up the mic for sometime and focus his energy into a hospitality venture, opening Solomon’s Café with his sister Alisa.
“I think it’s good for everyone to have a break from something that they really love,” he says. “To be able to pick it apart and understand why they really loved it in the first part. For me, it was more an internal battle of why I was making music in the first place.”
“The first two albums were super enjoyable, the reason purely being because that was my venting process and something that I depended on to get through my day to day, it was something that I could rely on as a creative outlet.”
“It was great to have that break and reestablish why I was doing music, to relight that flame and just enjoy that process again.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpbOfXzVEhI
For anyone who has ever worked in hospitality, you know unforgiving it can be. The long, late hours don’t provide much space to produce an album, but in what little spare time Reid had, the bones of an album began to form. “I was still writing, I would never ever stop writing. It was just whether I was going to release it.”
It took eighteen months for Reid to realise he was ready. “I had a bit of a body of work, and I was getting really excited and I wanted people to hear what I was working on. At the same time were the stresses of the business and obviously not being able to go on holiday, let alone tour. All these things started adding up. I did miss touring and playing live, I wanted to get back out there are start doing shows.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1oAK2oMK1o
Last month, Drapht dropped Seven Mirrors, going back to the start and working with Dazastah, who produced Pale Rider and Who Am I. “This album is not about searching for accolades or trying to achieve something in regards to an industry standard, its more about getting back out there and reestablishing myself as an artist and releasing music and driving that into people psyche.”
“It’s a very fickle and non forgiving industry and being away for six years is a pretty long time. Not many artists have the opportunity to be able to step away for six years and then come back and be so greeted with open arms and be played on the radio and do a Groovin The Moo run straight off the bat. I really appreciate those opportunities.”
It wasn’t just the fans welcoming Drapht back, Seven Mirrors is packed with big names. Hilltop Hoods, Briggs, Bradley Stone, Katie Noonan, Nat Dunn, Joyride, Brendan Welch, and Dune Rats were more than happy to jump on board a new Drapht record.
“It means a lot to me coming back from that break and then having the support, not only from my fanbase but from my peers within the industry too.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8oMmmxEDc4
As for an international tour? “I’d love to. I love playing in Australia, but with this album, I’d love to be able to get over to Europe and do little lap over there and even over to the States. I’d love those opportunities, I’d grab them and run with them if I was presented them, for sure. We do have a few little things we are working on and hopefully we can get over there in the middle of next year and do a couple of shows.
“I think it’s definitely being a lot more widely received. I get messages on Facebook from all over Europe, it’s so nice to have that support from other territories and other parts of the world as well. Where people can barely speak your language and they are affected by the words you say. It’s pretty powerful and that’s universally what music is about. I can’t wait to have the opportunity to go over there and play some shows.”
The closing track on Seven Mirrors, Odds, is accompanied by the skit Midnight At The Hospice featuring hip-hop pioneer Robert Hunter. Hunter was one of Australia’s greatest MCs and one of the first to develop the local scene. The skit is quite confronting as it features actual speech from Hunter in the final months of his life in a hospice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh8g5DhhcdM
“I’ve known Hunter since I was 13 years old. It went way back before either of us started rapping. We formed a bit of a bond but it wasn’t until I was 17 or 18 and we had this crew in Perth called Syllabolix. Hunter’s flat was basically the centrepiece of that crew and we would go there and we would drink and write.
“Daz and Hunter at the time were working on Done DL and I remember spitting Hunter my first verse. He was super supportive and a little bit blown away. They asked, ‘Do you want to write for this track on Done DL?’ I hadn’t even released a song at that stage, and he gave me the opportunity to write and release my first piece of music, a song called Adolescence. After we did that song Daz, Layla, and Hunter we did another two for the album.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGz0otcyey8
“For me he gave me what I have today, he gave me the opportunity. Without Hunter, I don’t know if I’d be doing what I’m doing right now.”
Hunter died of cancer five years ago, the subject of Drapht’s track Odds. In it, he honours his contribution to hip-hop and slams those who treated him as a social media opportunity after his diagnosis.
“It was very sad, Hunter was our best friend and it’s sad what cancer does to people. It’s hard for me to speak about this subject. It’s obviously very touching.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2TUZAtPlw
Done DL came out in 2002, and was our first taste of Drapht’s lyrical ability. Now 2016 we are still hearing his outstanding ability. Over an almost 15 year career Drapht would has witnessed a lot of changed in the hip-hop scene and in the culture.
“I welcome the changes with open arms. I was having this conversation yesterday with someone and they were sort of just bitching about the state of the genre. I feel like this is the healthiest that genre has been since it began. People have this platform to be themselves regardless of what’s trending and what’s a fad and what not. It seems there are so many different little pockets of the genre and people are just being themselves without that fear and judgment. And that’s what music is about, that’s what art’s about, being able to express yourself openly without fearing that someone is going to persecute you.”
“Remi is killing it at the moment and he’s just doing his thing, it’s authentic as fuck and I love it. There are lots of young dudes that are coming up, like B-Wise, who’s doing super exciting stuff. Briggs and Trials (A.B. Original) are just kicking in doors, I am so proud of those dudes and so excited to see them release their record and just change the game, not only change the game but change Australia for the better, it’s super exciting.”
“You have pioneers who created this whole fucking movement, The Hilltop Hoods, who went from playing a little 500 cap room back when I was 17, and that was massive for them back then, to now playing 16,000 cap arenas by themselves with no other noticeable support acts. It’s just fucking insane, no one else in Australia is doing that regardless of genre. AC/DC and Tame Impala are the closest things, it’s huge!”
“Even Kerser, I’ve got heaps of love for Kers, because he is literally just gone out there and been himself, he’s been a fucking hood-rat and just released his songs on YouTube, without a radio platform and achieved the things that he wanted to achieve, it’s amazing! You couldn’t do that back ten years ago. It’s healthy, it’s healthier than it’s ever been and I love it.”
The thing is that while the hip-hop culture continues to flourish and grow, many consider “Aussie hip-hop” to be one dimensional, and don’t bother exploring what local artists have to offer.
“I fucking cringe when I hear ‘Aussie hip-hop.’ I hate that terminology, but I love the movement, I love what it creates, I love the self expression side of hip-hop full stop.”
Drapht is heading out on tour next month, including a stop at This That Festival on November 5. “I’m pumped to play at This That,” he says. “I’ve never seen Sampa, I haven’t met her yet either so I am psyched to go see her play. Koi Child, I haven’t seen them play before, so I’m psyched, Hermitude I love to death, those dudes are legends. ScHoolboy Q, haven’t seen him play either. So there are a bunch of acts from a fan standpoint that I actually want to go see.”
Drapht Seven Mirrors Tour Dates:
- Thursday, 6th October 2016 – Wharf Tav, Mooloolaba
- Friday, 7th October 2016 – The Triffid, Brisbane
- Saturday, 8th October 2016 – Metro Theatre, Sydney
- Sunday, 9th October 2016 – Club 54, Launceston
- Thursday, 13th October 2016 – Granada Tavern, Hobart
- Friday, 14th October 2016 – 170 Russell, Melbourne
- Saturday, 15th October 2016 – The Gov, Adelaide
- Thursday, 20th October 2016 – Prince Of Wales, Bunbury
- Friday, 21st October 2016 – Capitol, Perth
- Friday, 16th December 2016 – Discovery, Darwin
- Saturday, 17th December 2016 – Gap View Hotel, Alice Springs
Drapht Festival Dates:
- 5th November 2016 – This That Festival, Newcastle, NSW
- 12th November 2016 – Park Sounds Festival, Brisbane, QLD
- 26th November 2016 – VanFest, Forbes, NSW
- 18th December 2016 – Live At The Orchard, Perth, WA
- 6 January 2017 – Summernats, Canberra, ACT
Earlier this month, Childish Gambino hosted his mysterious Pharos music event in Joshua Tree, California. The three day festival took place under the roof of a 150-foot wide dome. By now you may or may not have heard anything surrounding the festival or any details on his new album. Most of this is due to Gambino’s strictly no phones in the dome policy.
Before entering the dome punters had to lock their phones in bags, creating perhaps one of the only truly unplugged experiences of late.
https://twitter.com/ChildishHecbino/status/771904891048464388
Here is what we do know about his new album Pharos:
The Pharos album is going to be as awe-inspiring as the festival was.
Without actually being at the festival and hearing Gambino debut twelve new tracks from his upcoming album, I can only go off what people have said. Pharos will feature little-to-no rapping, instead a whole lot of soulful singing, that fuses elements of funk, jazz, soul, blues, hip-hop and pop and is backed by a live band and mini-choir.
We knew Gambino could sing, take tracks like Sober for example, but a whole album with very little rapping could equally divide his fans into those who love him as a rapper and those who love him as an artist. That being said, the reviews from the festival honour it’s creativity and new direction, some have even called it amazing and laud Gambino as a genius. None, or none that I have seen, have said it was bad.
Twitter seemed to agree that Gambino performed twelve tracks running approximately 70 minutes and had no features, or at least none who took to the stage at the event.
#PHAROS in review:
• 12 songs
• Concept album with creepy tribal vibe
• Funk/jazz hybrid
• Minimal rapping
• Creatively different— Michael Artress (@MichaelArtress) September 3, 2016
Basically we know very little, but it’s going to be different from Because The Internet. There is still no release date or any official information in circulation, but hopefully we will find out something soon.
Gambino is heading to Australia at the end of the year. Unfortunately, he will not be playing any festival sideshows, so only those with tickets to Falls and Field Day have the opportunity to be lucky enough to get a taste of Pharos. Who knows though, maybe it will be released before then, and all this rumour, speculation and over-thinking Tweets can be put to rest.
Image: Twitter
Even in death, Tupac Shakur and his music still reign supreme. This year marks the 20th since that fateful night in 1996, when the rapper was shot after a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas, losing his fight for life six days later on September 13, twenty years ago today.
Tupac was one of the most outspoken and prolific rappers of all time. One of the most multitalented artists of all time, he was a rapper, a poet, a producer, an actor, an activist, a nice-guy, a thug, a legend, a prophet, and he was also a man taken way before his time. Despite his ‘Thug Life’ attitude and numerous assault charges, he was a man of the people. “He represented, more than anything … that angst for people who felt oppression and poverty or felt marginalised,” MC Khaled M said. “He was the voice of the voiceless. Up until this day, I don’t think we have a hip-hop artist being able to replicate … his depth and passion.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9uEtplq6CI
The emotion he put into his music, his social commentary, and his call-to-action approach to telling stories of inner-city life are still as relevant today as they were in the early 90s. Tupac set the bar for hardened gangsta rappers, but also showed us that it was okay to drop your guard and show emotion sometimes too.
Tupac had many dedicated fans, some who have concocted numerous conspiracy theories surrounding his death. Many of these hinge around his seemingly prophetic lyrics and his name change from Tupac to Makaveli, as seen on the writing on the sleeve of his final album (which came out after he died), The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory: “Exit Tupac, Enter Makaveli.”
While everyone would surely love for Tupac to secretly be hiding in exile in Cuba with Elvis, Bowie, and Prince, common sense dictates that, everything else aside, there is no way he could have remained this silent for twenty years. No way he could have sat by and said nothing with all that is going on in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VL2ZkK7rSI
In the twenty years since Tupac last graced this earth, there have been plenty of rappers who have enjoyed the same (and more) levels of success, though arguably none have had the lasting impact on music and popular culture that Tupac has. Tupac is still being honoured today. Before his death, he drafted a logo and theme for a restaurant, with the hopes of opening up ‘The Powamekka Café’ – a music-themed restaurant where artists could feature their own recipes. Two decades later, Take 3 will finally bring his vision to life. Take 3, a restaurant based in Fresno, California, will pay tribute by opening the ‘The Powamekka Café’ pop-up restaurant today on September 13.
Later this year, the Tupac biopic will hit theatres too – hopefully it will depict the everlasting Tupac that us 90s hip-hop kids grew up listening to, and the new generation of hip-hop heads can see why there is still such love for the man and the era he helped define.
Most ordinary people remember Tupac and honour his memory and music by putting one of his CDs into the stereo and rapping away; by buying his posthumously released albums and tributes, or by watching Above The Rim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1LXb8RAOtA
No matter how many times I hear songs like Baby Don’t Cry, I Ain’t Mad At Cha, Changes, or Brenda’s Got A Baby, they still evoke the same raw emotions in me that they always have. It’s difficult to believe it has been twenty years. The tributes will undoubtedly flood in overnight, and this will be but one in a plethora.
Growing up playing sport and listening to hip-hop, it was hard to come to terms with emotions I was having. The man that hip-hop and basketball were raising me to be was a hardened, don’t-show-emotion, feelings-are-for-the-weak, misogynistic type of man. It was important to have people like Tupac in my life to show me that even the hardest of men can say beautiful things; to be ‘the rose that grew from the concrete’.
Tupac was, and forever will be, one of the greatest men, teachers, and rappers of all time. Gone but never forgotten – twenty years on, I hope you’re still resting, homie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXvBjCO19QY
Image: Biography.com
Twelve years ago, at the end of Come On Down, De La Soul said “Pursue my strategy, when it comes down to my work ethic/ I mean it’s simple, just be the best, you know what I’m sayin’?/ To be the best, the first, the only one in the game/ That’s is gonna do it for years and years man/ It’s like, you know, how you gonna say/ That we’re not at the top of the game?/ The top of the game n___s, is the one that’s producing/ Through out their career.” Of course, twelve years ago, De La Soul had just released The Grind Date, and it was safe to say they had been consistently releasing incredible music.
I have been a massive fan of De La Soul for a long time and have listened to every album they have ever released on repeat, always getting the same, if not more, out of each listen. De La are pioneers of hip-hop; they were one of the first groups, along with A Tribe Called Quest, to bring jazz to the genre, and almost single-handedly introduced the world to sampling. So much so that their albums are hard to come by in a modern world of music streaming, as clearance and rights issues have locked them out of digital streaming.
Every album they have released has shown incredible diversity and a level of consciousness that has allowed De La to remain “at the top of the game.” After conveniently getting The Grind Date stuck in my car CD player I found myself wanting more; their back catalogue is outstanding, I always felt they ‘retired’ too soon. Retired isn’t the right word – they were still touring, but not releasing any new material.
Early last year, the trio took to Kickstarter to gauge fan interest in a new album. In under 10 hours they had surpassed their goal of 110K, eventually raising 600K, making it the second highest-grossing Kickstarter campaign ever. While I didn’t contribute to the campaign, I feel like I have been waiting for this album for twelve years. My wait is finally over, as De La have now released their crowd-funded album and the Anonymous Nobody.
On first listen to and the Anonymous Nobody, it was not what I expected.
Opening track Genesis is a spoken word poem by Jill Scott. While I love spoken word, I was a little confused by its appearance. However, they then launch into Royalty Capes, a blend of more spoken word from Jill and incredibly conscious raps from Posdnous and Dave. “The sky takes notes when we speak,” Pos and Dave hold nothing back, proudly reintroducing themselves as royalty, without sounding like old men.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x792pVBX89o
Lead single Pain, featuring Snoop Dogg is a throwback to the style that gave De La the 600K fundraising fan base. On the other hand, you have Drawn featuring the Swedish electronic band Little Dragon, with lots of electronics and lots of Little Dragon. Pos doesn’t start rapping until the last minute of the five and a half minute song. His bars are nothing special, but it rides on its star power, and is nevertheless both beautiful and enjoyable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vDVDo9w20w
Drawn is followed by a bar-heavy Woodeeni, featuring 2 Chainz and a real spacey beat. The album is all over the place, lacking a particular direction or focus, yet it is somehow still brilliant. Listening to it in order or on shuffle seems to make no difference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2YAl81ikhQ
The more I listen to this album, the more I can appreciate the need De La had to produce an album free of record company greed and creative direction. The Plugs have used the crowd-funded money to take back creative control over their music and have put forth an uncannily brilliant album. Die hard De La fans like myself will still long for more raps from Pos and Dave after listening to songs like Exodus and Drawn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umdFFR9XVpE
Overall, De La did not disappoint. We might not see another album from them, but we have sure seen everything from them in a wicked 27 year career.
What’s even more amazing is De La Soul will be bringing their amazing new album to our shores in November. Presented by the Red Bull Music Academy with shows in Perth, Byron Bay, and Sydney. Dates and ticket info below.
Friday 11th Nov – Villa, Perth – Tickets
Sunday 13th Nov – Beach Hotel, Byron Bay – Tickets
Friday 18th Nov – Greenwood Hotel, Sydney – Tickets
Image: WeAreDeLaSoul.com
What if Tupac was Notorious B.I.G.’s manager? Would the two legends still be alive? We could ask ourselves a thousand ‘what if’ questions about Tupac and Biggie, and we often find ourselves doing exactly that. Especially because, two decades after their deaths, we are still finding out new information about their relationship.
Ben Westhoff, author of the Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur and the Birth of West Coast Rap, has spoken out in an interview on the Murder Master Music Show, that Biggie once asked Tupac if he would manage him.
“People forget that Tupac was already blowing up, already a pretty big star when Biggie was just kind of getting started,” Westhoff said. “Tupac kind of took Biggie under his wing and tried to teach him everything he knew, kind of took him to school. Biggie’s career wasn’t taking off as fast as he hoped it would. And so he actually asked Tupac if he would be his manager.”
Tupac turned Biggie down because he thought he was doing good under Puff Daddy’s management. It’s easy to forget how close Tupac and Biggie were, considering two of the greatest hip-hop songs of that decade are their foul-mouthed diss tracks to each other Hit ‘Em Up and Who Shot Ya? respectively. Westhoff even stated that it was because they were so close in the beginning that their beef become so intensely personal.
“After he got shot, Tupac believed that Biggie knew about it in advance, knew it was going to happen. That made him doubly mad because he mentored Biggie so much and helped him, and he really believed that he double-crossed him.”
You can hear the audio of Ben Westhoff’s insightful interview below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFYNa7pZ1y4
For more information we will have to wait for the release of his book Original Gangstas on September 13, which is also the 20th anniversary of Tupac’s death. You can pre-order the book benwesthoff.com.
Image: YouTube
Late last year, London On Da Track and Metro Boomin’ teased the world with a couple of Tweets hinting they were thinking of teaming up for a collab project.
In a recent interview with Complex, London On Da Track said that the two producers are actually working on an album titled LondonBoomin’. London was very reserved with the details though, and when asked who else would be featured on the record simply said “can’t tell you.” There are no further details at the moment, but it seems last year’s Tweets were the real deal.
London also revealed that he has been in talks with Drake and has been in the studio with Nicki Minaj as well working on three or four songs with the star rapper that are more on the pop side than the rap side of music. Hopefully, he is helping her finish off the album she teased last year.
There is nobody in the industry he doesn’t talk to he said, except for Taylor Swift, who he would really, really like to work with.
Maybe we can expect Swift, Drake and Minaj to appear on LondonBoomin’? No matter who features on the upcoming project it will be very interesting to hear and see how a collaboration between two producers might work. It is not something we really see often in hip-hop and it could open the door to some pretty interesting avenues.
Image: XXL
Future and MTV have just dropped a mini-documentary called Future’s Reign. The doco is focused around Future’s recent Purple Reign tour, and shows fans a candid snapshot of what happened behind the scenes.
The doco starts out with a few testimonials from fans out the front of the concert venues Future is set to perform in. From there the ten minute documentary features Future further feeding his ego as he narrates clips of himself backstage, onstage, in strip clubs and on photo shoots, telling the viewers why is he so amazing.
This is obviously not out of character for any rapper let alone one who may have a stake in claiming he is the best. He is on the cover of GQ Style magazine with none other than Giorgio Armani.
“He’s the top designer in the world. I’m the top rapper in the world,” Future said in his GQ interview. “Some hits are going to come from this experience for sure.”
“I know how much he suffers to be where he is,” Armani said. “He’s suffered just like I’ve suffered. So…we’re friends in a way.”
Armani was right, there seems to be a deeper meaning behind a lot of what Future is saying in Future’s Reign. One of the more emotional moments comes in the rapper revealing how he missed his Aunty’s funeral because he couldn’t back out of a concert, because they threatened to sue him.
“It’s a dream, to come from where I come from and say you have a house in Beverly Hills,” he said. “But I’m not happy. This is not who I am.
“Being around my friends that love me, they see things that I can’t see, because when you up, they can still see the bottom,” he added. “And I just had a talk with myself, like, I’m not happy doing this. I’m not happy in this expensive car, riding around, lonely. Having nobody to really talk to. I need to go back home. If it was a time like this, and I was riding around lonely, I could just pull up to my grandma’s house and have her fix me something to eat.”
We might start to see a different Future come out in his songs. Maybe even get see a Future and Armani collab. You can watch Future’s Reign below.
https://www.facebook.com/MTV/videos/10153948387186701/
Image: GQ